Gaff for fishing



May 2, 1950 Filed Feb. 18, 1948 AGENT May 2, 1950 A. BQSNDING 2,506,407

GAFF FOR FISHING Filed Feb. 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Azza/reas pzm/zkzg AGENTl Patented May 2, 1950 Application February 18, 1948, Serial No. 9,093 In Denmark January 24, 1947 'Section I, Public Law 690', August 8, 1946 Patent expires January 24, 1967 6 Claims. l

The invention relates toa gaff for iishing oonsisting of a number oi?v linksA or sections made of channel-shaped bars. decreasing towards the end wat which the hook is placed and provided with a handle at. oneA endand a hook at the opposite end, which hook when the gan` is folded up enters into a protecting shield.

-In the 'gaffs of known constnuction the protecA tive shield is placed on the same side of the rod as the hook, so that the links of the rodv cannot be folded so as to lie parallel to one another but will form an rangle inside of which the hook will rest.

These disadvantages are overcome by the gan according to the invention, the protective shield bein-g provided on the top of the link next tothe handle and being adapted to receive sub stantiallyI the entire curved portion of the hook. The rod mayfurtherhave its individual links interlocked in the operative position by meansv of a spring loaded detent, known per se, and be provided with a further set ofv detents so 'placed as to release a link for unfolding` only when the opening movement ofthe preceding link has Vbeen completed.

YAsl the hook should preferably be ina reasonablyl central position in relation to the centre line of the rod, in order that the considera-.ble forces which are to be transmitted from the handle to the hook sha-ll not have too great -a torsional eiect, the protective shield may have its aperture for the hook through a slit in the rod, and further, one or more of the folding links may as required be provided with slits which when the rod is folded up will correspond to the slit forming the entry to the protective covering,

Whereas it; is a known practice to release a spring-loaded detent for the opening of a collapsible the result attained by` adding the further vset of detents mentioned will be that the individual links will not be released simultaneously. The unfolding ofthe gaffwill in this way Ipartake of the character of an unrolling, a feature that may be attained by' a special embodiment of the detente by which the individual detents in the two sets are interconnected in pairs, so that whenA the ga is unfolded one link` will be locked to the preceding linkr` and' at the same time release the next link for openingwhen thevformer link concludes its `turning movement. Further, the mentioned; pairs of detents Ina-y according to the invention be rigidly connected andloadedl byfa; common spring, which when the gait is foldedI up willt hold the other d'eten'c;V so

2- tlrat it will lock the preceding link. Thereby a further simplification or the gai will be attained.

With the links of the gaif of my invention folded so as to rest inside one another, the gan will take up considerably less space and aiford less risk .of fouling other iishng tackle Withwhich it may be stowed.

The accompanying drawing shows an. embodiment. of a gali according tothe invention.

Fig. l is; a side view of the galt in folded. corn dition;

Fig. 2 is a side `View in extended condition;

Fig. 3 is a top view;

Fig. 4 is a. longitudinal section of the unfolded or extended gaff, drawn to enlarged scale.;

Fig'. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal Vsection illustrating the unfolding movement.;

Fig. v6' is ya partially sectioned View, the section being taken in a plane 'of the line 6 6 ofl Fig; 2.;I and Figs. 7, l8- and'9 aresideviews illustrating Vconsecutive folding positions..

The galf consists of a rod divided into four links, I, 2, 3-, and 4', of decreasing lengths and cross sections, lall having in cross sectionsubstantiadly the shapeoi'f-an inverted Ll?. 'The links are` pivotal-ly interconnected by means of pins, 5, carriedthrough the side Webs of the'cfhannelbars toni-ning the Eacihpin, -5, is provided'- witha coil spring, 6, which with its. end presses aga-inst the bottoms of the links tendingto turn the links intoa position in prolongation of' oneanother. The extreme link, 4, carries a hook, l-, land the link, I, is at its 'free end provided with a handle, 8. The latter link is further provided with a protective shield, 24', for thelrook, 1 `the shield being placed on the top of the link, l.

The springs, 6; lare of sulcient dimensionto swing the individual links into the position cor-- respondingl to the operative position of the gan, but they are not suiiiciently strong` tokeep the links in this position. This: is being donev by a set of detents', 9*, tit, and Il, pivotally mounted onpins, I2, I3, and l-4, around which springs, I5, l-6, and l'l are .placed-which urge thedetents to engage the*J ends ofthe-links, Il, 2l', andE 3a When the gan is to be folded from the position shown Fig;` 2 into the folded position shownin Fig. 1-, the procedure isas fol-lows: First the detent, Il, is manually turned clear oftheendl of? link-A 3fso1- thatli-nk may be :turn'ed about the pin, 5, as shown in` Figure-"7i the lhook 1l, passingtlirougli-l a slot; llaI link 3 (,fseepig; '3gp-t,

Thereby link 4 will disappear entirely into the interior of link 3. Then with a iinger detent l is turned clear of the end of link 2, and link 3 may then be turned in relation to link 2 about their common pin 5, as best shown in Fig. 8. At the end of this turning movement a detent, I9, which is integrally formed with the detent, 9, but is facing in the opposite direction will grip the end of link 3 now released, see Figs. 5 and 8, so that links 2, 3, and 4 will now take up no more space than did link 2 originally. (At the same time that detent I9 engages the end of link 3, detent 9 is released from the end of link I, so that without further manipulation it will be possible to turn link 2 in relation to link I about the common pin, 5, against the pressure of spring 6. Thereby the hook, will be turned in through a slot 25 in the top of link I and will pass into the protective shield, 24. When link 2 has been turned fully into link I, a detent, 2i turning on ya pin, 2t, will by means of a spring, 22, be made to engage the end of link 2 and lock this link. Thereby the folding of the ga is completed.

It should be noted that during the successive folding operations the detent II enters the slot 26, and the detent I9 the slot 2l, both slots being clearly shown in Fig. 3.

When the gail is to be unfolded the same Inanipulations are made, but in the opposite order, and the movements are made automatically, one movement succeeding the other until the gai is fully open. The opening movement is released by the pressure of a nger against a knurled part, 23, on the upper end of detent ZI. Thereby the detent, 2|, will disengage link 2, so that this link under the pressure of spring 6 will swing in relation to link I around their common pin, 5. When the link has swung out, detent 9 will engage the end of link i, but due to its swinging movement the detent I9 will at the same time disengage link 3 Iwhich will then open. Fig. 5 shows the moment immediately preceding the moment at which detent 9 engages the end of link I and causes detent i9 to release link 3 for turning. Link 3 will then turn in relation to link 2 around their common pin, 5, under the pressure of spring G, until link 3 has attained the position sho-wn in Figs. 2, 3 or il, in which detent I has gripped the end of link 2 and locked link 3 to link 2. Thereupon link l with the hook l, will freely swing into the position shown in any of Figs. 2, 3 and fi, in which detent lI will lock link II to link 3. There being no spring, around the pin, 5, connecting links 3 and 4, the hook must be held at an angle during the opening movement n order that the hook, l, may swing all the way into the position shown in Fig. 4, it will, however, be natural to hold the gaiie in this inclined position when it is to be opened for operation.

Having reference to Fig. 6, this sectional view shows the links or sections I and 2 and illustrates their relation to each other and the relationship between the slot 25 and the shield 2li.

The gaff may be produced in many ways besidesY that specified. Thus, it need not have four links, and the links may very well be of the same length.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and want to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Folding gall comprising a handle, a shank formed of pivotally connected sections, said sections having in cross section substantially the shape of an inverted U, a hook secured to the section most remote from the handle and with its point below the opening of said U, means to retain the gaff in an extended or a folded condition, and a shield provided on the top of the section next to the handle, each section being smaller in cross section than the next succeeding one in the direction toward the handle and being adapted, Iwhen folded into the open U of an adjacent section to lit wholly in said section, said shield thereby protectively receiving substantially the entire curved portion of the hook, said means comprising spring actuated detents provided on foldable sections and protruding beyond the tops of said foldable sections, each to engage an adjoining section and to retain two neighboring sections in extended condition, spring actuated detents provided on such sections as receive folded-in sections to hold the latter in the folded condition, and spring means to urge the foldable sections into the open position.

2. The gai according to claim l, wherein the top of said section next to the handle is provided with a slot through which substantially the entire curved portion of the hook enters said shield when the gaii is folded.

3. The gaff according to claim l, wherein the tops of more than one section are provided with slots through which substantially the entire curved porticn of the hook enters when the gaff is folded.

4. The gai according to claim 1, wherein said means include at least one pair of oppositely directed and integrally formed detents, coil springs, and pins extending through the opposite sides of said sections, said pairs of detents and coil springs being mounted on said pins, each coil spring having its ends bearing against a section and its intermediate portion actuable with a pair of detents, one detent of each of said pairs protruding beyond the top of the respective section and being adapted to engage an adjoining section so as to retain two neighboring sections in extended condition, the other detent of each of said pairs being adapted to engage and to retain a folded-in section, the arrangement of said spring actuated pairs of detents being such that during the opening of the gai, while one section is being latched to be kept extended, the next smaller section is simultaneously released.

5. rIhe gai according to claim 1, Iwherein said shank is formed of four sections and wherein said `means include a pair of oppositely directed and integrally formed detents, a coil spring, and a pin extending through the opposite sides of a section, the pair of detents and the coil spring being mounted on said pin, the coil spring having its ends bearing against said section and its intermediate portion actuable with said pair of detents, one detent of said pair protruding beyond the top of said section and being adapted to engage an adjoining section so as to retain the two neighboring sections in extended condition, the other detent of said pair being adapted to engage and to retain the folded-in section, the arrangement of said spring actuated pair of detents being such that during the opening of the gaff, while one section is being latched to be kept extended, the next small section is simultaneously released.

6. The gai according to claim 1, wherein said shank is formed of four sections and wherein said means include three detents, a pair of oppositely directed and integrally formed detents, coil springs, and pins extending through the opposite sides of said sections, said detents and said pair 5 of detents, respectively, and said coil springs being mounted on said pins, each coil spring having its ends bearing against a section and its intermediate portion actuable with a detent and said paix` of detents, respectively, two of said detents and one detent of said pair protruding beyond the top of the respective section and being adapted to engage an adgoim'ng section so as to retain two neighboring sections in extended condition, one detent and the other detent of said pair being adapted to engage and to retain a folded-in section, the last named detent having a knurled part protruding beyond the top of the respective section, the arrangement of said spring actuated `pair of detents being such that during the open- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,112,765 Darling Mar. 29, 1938 Darling Sept. 10, 1940 

